148
Spatial analysis of the topographical locations of passage tombs and related
cairns demonstrates their pronounced preference for vantage in the majority of
cases. Survey fieldwork by the author at every such site on the island can validate
this claim. This attribute makes them prominent on the skyline with an associated
high degree of intervisibility (Bergh, 1995, Cooney & Grogan, 1999: 55–71,
Prendergast, 2020). Based on their measured elevations, Fig. 2b also reveals a bimodal distribution in tomb elevations. Although the majority (70%) are located at
more moderate elevations (0–150 m), the remainder (30%) are predominantly
located in upland topography above the 150 m contour with a number located on
very high summits such as Slieve Donard (see Fig. 1). Virtually all sites have views
of the distant horizon in varying directions of the compass with a view of the northern horizon and northern sky being especially evident. Such siting and view characteristics are not encountered in Neolithic court and portal tombs, even where these
have spatial adjacency with the passage tombs. The observed bi-modality in elevation could additionally reflect a possible religious stratification of the landscape for
burial purposes related, perhaps, to a partitioned world-view. In terms of chronology
and funerary traditions, court tombs broadly date to 3700–3200 BC and have
trapezoidal- shaped chambers set in a long cairn used to contain inhumed and cremated human remains. Portal tombs date to 3800–3200 BC and had repeated episodes of inhumed burials. The burial chambers of passage tombs were generally
placed at the end of the access passage set within a round covering cairn delimited
by kerbstones, often richly embellished with megalithic art. The predominant burial
rite was cremation although unburnt bone (including from children) and the skulls
and long bones of adults are evident. A striking feature of passage tomb orientation
is the discovery of wide-scale deliberate alignment of the entrance to face another
elevationally higher tomb or a related cairn (Prendergast, 2016). This finding suggests that view, and directed view from within the burial chamber, were an elemental part of passage tomb cosmology.
Moving the discussion towards symbolism of the total environmental domain,
Robert Hertz (1907–1960: 96) is, perhaps, the earliest anthropologist to articulate
ideas of a tiered cosmos and cultural significance being attached to the horizon.
Hertz draws on ethnographic studies by Tregear (1904) which recorded cultural
traditions in New Zealand’s Maori society. Tregear discovered how the skyline was
an elemental part of the Maori belief system and world view. Relevantly, their
Kumara crop could only be dug when the bright star Vega was above the horizon. To
the Maori, the visible likeness of a deified ancestor sometimes announced itself as
a rising star identified as ‘Venus flashing along the horizon’ (Tregear, 1904: 91,
403). Culturally, this provides an example of the symbolism and liminality of the
intangible horizon. On liminality, the architectural theorist Pierre von Meiss (1989:
155) wrote ‘The horizon is a limit even if this limit is in reality intangible, because
the more we advance, the more the horizon is replaced by new horizons’.
In Ireland, commanding views of horizon are an obvious and notable feature
associated with the elevated siting of numerous passage tombs. Interestingly,
investigation by Vicky Cummings of the landscape setting of prehistoric megalithic chambered monuments in nearby north-west Wales reveals very few exhibit
F. Prendergast
Spatial analysis of the topographical locations of passage tombs and related
cairns demonstrates their pronounced preference for vantage in the majority of
cases. Survey fieldwork by the author at every such site on the island can validate
this claim. This attribute makes them prominent on the skyline with an associated
high degree of intervisibility (Bergh, 1995, Cooney & Grogan, 1999: 55–71,
Prendergast, 2020). Based on their measured elevations, Fig. 2b also reveals a bimodal distribution in tomb elevations. Although the majority (70%) are located at
more moderate elevations (0–150 m), the remainder (30%) are predominantly
located in upland topography above the 150 m contour with a number located on
very high summits such as Slieve Donard (see Fig. 1). Virtually all sites have views
of the distant horizon in varying directions of the compass with a view of the northern horizon and northern sky being especially evident. Such siting and view characteristics are not encountered in Neolithic court and portal tombs, even where these
have spatial adjacency with the passage tombs. The observed bi-modality in elevation could additionally reflect a possible religious stratification of the landscape for
burial purposes related, perhaps, to a partitioned world-view. In terms of chronology
and funerary traditions, court tombs broadly date to 3700–3200 BC and have
trapezoidal- shaped chambers set in a long cairn used to contain inhumed and cremated human remains. Portal tombs date to 3800–3200 BC and had repeated episodes of inhumed burials. The burial chambers of passage tombs were generally
placed at the end of the access passage set within a round covering cairn delimited
by kerbstones, often richly embellished with megalithic art. The predominant burial
rite was cremation although unburnt bone (including from children) and the skulls
and long bones of adults are evident. A striking feature of passage tomb orientation
is the discovery of wide-scale deliberate alignment of the entrance to face another
elevationally higher tomb or a related cairn (Prendergast, 2016). This finding suggests that view, and directed view from within the burial chamber, were an elemental part of passage tomb cosmology.
Moving the discussion towards symbolism of the total environmental domain,
Robert Hertz (1907–1960: 96) is, perhaps, the earliest anthropologist to articulate
ideas of a tiered cosmos and cultural significance being attached to the horizon.
Hertz draws on ethnographic studies by Tregear (1904) which recorded cultural
traditions in New Zealand’s Maori society. Tregear discovered how the skyline was
an elemental part of the Maori belief system and world view. Relevantly, their
Kumara crop could only be dug when the bright star Vega was above the horizon. To
the Maori, the visible likeness of a deified ancestor sometimes announced itself as
a rising star identified as ‘Venus flashing along the horizon’ (Tregear, 1904: 91,
403). Culturally, this provides an example of the symbolism and liminality of the
intangible horizon. On liminality, the architectural theorist Pierre von Meiss (1989:
155) wrote ‘The horizon is a limit even if this limit is in reality intangible, because
the more we advance, the more the horizon is replaced by new horizons’.
In Ireland, commanding views of horizon are an obvious and notable feature
associated with the elevated siting of numerous passage tombs. Interestingly,
investigation by Vicky Cummings of the landscape setting of prehistoric megalithic chambered monuments in nearby north-west Wales reveals very few exhibit
F. Prendergast